Health System will use A-CHESS platform to extend scope of Geisinger services in hard to reach areas

CHESS Health, the leading provider of addiction management technology, and Geisinger, one of the nation’s most innovative health organizations, will work together to add the A-CHESS platform to Geisinger’s Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Centers in the Pennsylvania towns of Bloomsburg, Willkes-Barre and Williamsport.

“The Geisinger reputation for innovation in healthcare delivery is unsurpassed, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be working with them on such an important health issue as addiction treatment,” says Hans Morefield, chief executive officer of CHESS. “MAT Centers can be especially effective in addressing addiction to opioids, and addiction management technology will help strengthen and extend the scope of the Geisinger treatment services being offered.”

Geisinger will utilize the hub and spoke model of addiction treatment first modeled in Vermont nearly a decade ago. The hub is a MAT Clinic staffed by Board Certified Addiction Medicine Physicians, that do evaluations. Patients who need other levels of care, be it Methadone, or specialized care for pregnant Moms, are referred to partner spokes within the network.

The evidence-based A-CHESS platform is the ideal technology for the hub and spoke model. A-CHESS will help Geisinger clinicians maintain continuous connections with patients, provide patients with personalized recovery resources, address isolation by enabling peer-to-peer connections, and apply the predictive relapse analytics to intervene when necessary.

Geisinger will begin using the A-CHESS platform in October 2018. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control, Pennsylvania is one of the worst states for opioid addiction, and lacks addiction treatment support in many of its rural areas,” says Jordan Barbour, MPH, director of operations, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine for Geisinger. “We are working hard to help address this public health challenge, and with the addition of these automated tools, we will be able to provide improved care and communication to our patients, which will result in better outcomes for the patients, their families, and our communities.”

About CHESS Health

CHESS Health offers an evidence-based technology platform supporting the entire addiction management lifecycle addressing the most significant issues with addiction: getting more individuals with SUD into treatment, increasing treatment adherence and outcomes, and minimizing relapse for those in recovery. The ACHESS platform benefits patients, providers and payers by reducing costs, extending the reach of treatment to address access issues and, more importantly, saving lives. The recent addition of an eIntervention capability prior to treatment, and an eTherapy functionality during treatment through partnership with evidence-based CBT4CBT, creates an industry-leading platform to support the full continuum of care for substance use disorders. CHESS Health has received recognition from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Page 2/3 If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases please contact the company listed in the press release. Our complete disclaimer appears here Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and the Surgeon General. For more information, visit www.chess.health.

About Geisinger

One of the nation’s most innovative health services organizations, Geisinger serves more than 1.5 million patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The system includes 13 hospital campuses, a nearly 600,000-member health plan, two research centers and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Geisinger is known for its focus on caring and innovative programs including the ProvenCare® best-practice approach to maximize quality, safety and value; ProvenHealth Navigator® advanced medical home; Springboard Health® population health program to improve the health of an entire community; ProvenExperience™ to provide refunds to patients unhappy with their care experience; and Geisinger’s MyCode® Community Health Initiative, the largest healthcare system-based precision health project in the world. With more than 215,000 volunteer participants enrolled, MyCode is conducting extensive research and returning medically actionable results to participants. A physician-led organization, with approximately 32,000 employees and more than 1,800 employed physicians, Geisinger leverages an estimated $12.7 billion positive annual impact on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey economies. Repeatedly recognized nationally for integration, quality and service, Geisinger has a long-standing commitment to patient care, medical education, research and community service. For more information, visit geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.